Court Nullifies Standard Chartered Bank’s Sh5M Charge Over Nairobi County Land

What happens when a bank accepts land as security for a loan without properly verifying its ownership? In this sixth episode, Lawyer Danstan Omari examines a 2018 High Court judgment involving Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Limited, Jokamu Holdings Limited, and the City Council of Nairobi over a disputed parcel of land. The court found that the property, which had been used as a public health facility and occupied by health workers, belonged to the public and should not have been used as security for a private loan. The court questioned why the bank failed to conduct basic due diligence, including visiting the property and carrying out a proper valuation, which could have revealed the dispute surrounding ownership.